South Africa

South Africa signed an important FTA with the European Union back in 1999. That deal not only had lasting impacts on South Africa itself, but it set the stage for a stronger drive from the EU (and from EFTA) to get African nations to sign on to deeper liberalisation of trade and investment policies in the following decade, especially through the EU-ACP EPA negotiating process.

South Africa is member of the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) which has been negotiating an FTA with the US since many years. In 2006, SACU signed an FTA with Mercosur. In 2007, they sealed a deal with EFTA.

On its own, South Africa has a bilateral FTA with SADC (Southern Africa Development Cooperation). It also has preferential agreements with Malawi, Zimbabwe and Croatia plus a non-reciprocal trade arrangement with Mozambique. At present, it is considering further bilateral deals with Kenya, Nigeria, China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and India. In late 2011, it rejected a proposal from Turkey for an FTA claiming this would bring about destructive competition which would undermine South Africa’s industrial and employment objectives.

South Africa is also part of IBSA, the India-Brazil-SA triangle that is hoping to forge a trilateral South-South FTA.

Articles

The South African Poultry Association, which has applied to the International Trade Administration Commission for a general tariff increase against chicken imports, also plans to seek protection against imports from the European Union.

A French company’s attempt to claim "rooibos" as its own intellectual property has galvanised the South African government into action to protect the term under its talks with Brussels over the EU-South Africa EPA.

One of the most contentious issues dealt with in a draft new Foreign Investment Bill, which the South African Department of Trade and Industry will present to an interministerial committee in the next few months, will deal with how the South African government will compensate foreign investors in the event of expropriation, deputy director-general of international trade Xavier Carim said on Friday.

South Africa will avoid entering into bilateral investment treaties (BITs) in future, except where there are compelling economic and political circumstances, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said on Thursday.

Strengthening bilateral trade and investment relations with African countries was a key trade and economic strategy for South Africa, Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies told the sixth Africa Economic Forum in Cape Town this week.

South Africa has rejected Turkey’s proposal for a free trade agreement between the two countries saying that this would encourage "destructive competition that will undermine our industrial and employment objectives".

As South Africa moves to bolster industrialisation efforts within its own borders, the planned roll out of a giant free trade area across Africa may hit a snag when it comes to negotiating about trade in manufactured goods between member countries, the Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies said yesterday.

In negotiations to forge an economic partnership agreement (EPA), the EU has agreed to improve market access for about 80% of the agricultural products South Africa has asked to be accepted. However, the EU has yet to budge on wine, sugar and starch.

The Deputy US Trade Representative, Demetrios Marantis, has co-chaired a recent meeting with the SA Trade and Industry Minister, Rob Davies, of the US-South Africa Trade and Investment Council (TIFA Council), at which there was a re-launched discussion of a full range of trade issues.

South Africa is considering bilateral trade agreements with Japan, Turkey and New Zealand, but a preferential trade agreement with India, currently under negotiation, is enjoying priority, said Brendan Vickers, a chief director at the department of trade and industry.

South African agricultural groups are lobbying to rectify the highly skewed trade relationship with the European Union, looking for improved market access for a number of products including wine, sugar and canned fruit.

South African President Jacob Zuma will lead a State visit to China this week in a bid to strengthen political, economic and trade relations with the world’s second-largest economy and South Africa’s largest trading partner.

Parliament’s trade and industry committee wants South African MPs to play a greater role in negotiating international agreements and has urged that the legislative framework and rules for dealing with them be reviewed.

President Jacob Zuma and the Republic of Congo’s President Denis Sassou-Nguesso signed a bilateral trade agreement in Pretoria on Thursday. In a statement released after their meeting, Zuma welcomed the long-term land lease agreement of over 200000 hectares of idle farmland to a consortium of South African farmers.

SA is likely to focus on stimulating targeted sectors of the economy and firming up trade relations with key partners in Africa, Europe and the east this year, as growing global trade flows are expected to reflect a world emerging from recession.

8-Mar-2018People over Profit

Peoples movements, especially women, are enraged that the revived and rebranded CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership), an agreement set to trample on people’s rights, will be signed today, March 8, the very same day that is historically dedicated to honor the struggle of working class women against injustice and capitalist exploitation, and for the advancement of their rights.

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